The Black Lion's Sister
by Phantom Dai Shi
Summary: When Jarrod's sister arrives in Ocean Bluff, she not only has to try to mak new friends, but forgive her past, fight new enemies and keep her darkest secret hidden before Dai Shi captures her to use as his new weapon. Contains bad language
1. Prolgue: Losing A Brother

Hello Fanfiction, this is the first chapter of my original Jungle Fury story. At the moment it's a slight alteration of the first episode from Jungle Fury except I've added my own OC and made the story mostly from her point of view.

Just so you know I've created the names for the diamonds on the Pai Zhua uniform. Hatsu means first, Me means second and Dai San means third (At least that's what Google Translate say it does). Dayia is a shorted form of Daiyamondo, which means diamond. Enjoy!

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><p>Tucked away in the middle of a mysterious forest in an unknown mountainous region, a building, surrounded by clouds, stands tall and proud. At first the building looks like a monastery or ancient temple. Neither are completely right, but the latter is closer to truth.<p>

_'We are the vision in your dreams. We do not exist, yet we have been here since the beginning. We are Pài Zhuǎ- the Order of the Claw.'_ Whispers a voice fill of age and wisdom.

The voice pulls us into the temple, closer and closer, into a courtyard. Nearby, a metal plate is hanging from an archway, bearing the ancient design of three claws. In front of an archway leading into the building, six people are sitting cross-legged on the ground, facing the building. They are all dressed simply in pale blue keikogi uniform jackets with black pants and shoes, the claw mark on the left side of each person's chest. Below the collar, three diamonds are seen, declaring these students to be high ranking and good fighters.

_'We train only the best, both physically and mentally, swearing them to secrecy, all masters of their skills, never knowing their true purpose… until now.'_ The voice finishes.

Most of the students have their eyes closed, deep in mediation, but two of the three females sitting, have their eyes wide open. One is a blond haired woman who just is staring ahead, trying to figure out what is going on. The other woman, who is evidently the youngest of the group, flicks her head about in confusion. She catches the other girl's eye and mouths 'why?'. Unable to answer or reply, the blond haired woman looks at her without moving her head and ever so slightly raises her shoulders. The other girl mentally curses; shrugging shoulders were the age old sign of not knowing something. Her hand momentarily tightens around a small object in her hand, before releasing the pressure. The object suddenly springs open, revealing an animal shaped creature inside of it.

'Calm down.' A voice beside her states, making her jump and close the object. She turned to him, watching him intently. His eyes were still closed, but the younger girl knew he could tell she was nervous.

'Easy for you to say.' She retorted, staring down at the bottom diamond on her shirt. It was wonky and roughly sown on with black thread.

'If it makes you feel better, I don't know what's going on either.' His voice was kind and sympathetic towards the younger girl.

'It's not that.' The lad sighed, opened his eyes and turned his head towards the girl, who was still staring at the roughly sown on diamond. The lad followed her gaze, then met her eyes.

'You're still unsure about that?' he asks, shocked but hiding it well. The girl does nothing and the man takes a moment to observe her. The strong, slightly square jawline, curly brown hair that reached just passed her shoulders, dark brown eyes and the animal spirit that prowled within her. It didn't take a genius to realise that the two were related, yet still some people didn't know. Either that are they didn't care.

'Yes.' The man sighed again and punched the girl on the arm. Quick as a flash, she reacted by grabbing his arm and twisting it, throwing in a hard stare for good measure. The lad smiled, causing her to smile to and release his arm.

'Stop doubting yourself.' He told her. 'You're powerful and amazing.'

'Just like you?' the girl quipped. The man just smiled and returned to his meditation, the girl beside him soon following suit. This meant only one girl was left with her eyes open and she watched a group of several older men – wearing robes of various colours – walk past the various standards made of rich red cloth, bearing the claw emblem in gold. She turned to her neighbour.

'Theo.' she whispered, who turned to her with a look of disregard. 'What is going on?'

'Lily, no talking. Just 'cause Mr High and Mighty is doing so doesn't mean we have to too.' Lily scoffed.

'Lighten up, with been sitting here since last night!' Lily replied.

'Just try and enjoy the silence.' Theo told her, returning to his meditation.

'I hate silence.' Lily muttered loud enough for the younger girl to hear her.

'Feel you there.' She replied catching her eye again. Her brother smiled typical Aria, nosey as ever. he thought as an old man wearing red robes and a red hat stands before the seated students. Most of them sense the change in atmosphere and tensed up. Then a man in yellow robes banged a gong, signally for all six to stand. They do so, with Lily still muttering under her breath.

'Stiff…' Lily turned to Theo, eyeing him playfully. 'Hey, Theo, did my butt get up with me?' Theo looked at her, slightly aghast before rolling his eyes. 'I can't tell. I'm numb.' During all this, she along with Theo, the brown haired lad called Jarrod, his relation called Aria and the other students faced the old man and bowed. He was known as Master Mao, head of the Order. He stepped forward, his robes fluttering in the breeze, causing the stylized symbol of a wild cat to move as if it was roaring.

'You are the six finalists. I'm looking for three.' Lily and Jarrod smiled expectantly and Aria watched her brother nervously. She was tense along with Theo, although it was for a different reason. Master Mao clapped his hands and the students rose. Sensing Theo's unease, he turned to him first. 'Theo, bearer of the Jaguar Spirit you will face Sally, bearer of the Fox Spirit.' The pair turned to each other and bowed, before taking up their respective animal fighting stances.

He then turned to Lily. 'Lily, bearer of the Cheetah Spirit you will face Thomas, bearer of the Bear Spirit.' The pair faced other and bowed, following Theo and Sally's example. Aria looked at Jarrod, who was licking his lips nervously.

'Jarrod, bearer of the Lion Spirit you will face Aria, also bearer of the Lion Spirit.' The two looked at each other and then faced each other. They bowed and each took up the lion stance. Most of the other robed men turned their attention to the pair. They believed that Theo and Lily would defeat their opponents with relative ease, but the two Lions were quite evenly matched with age probably being the only reason why one will win.

'Begin!' commanded Master Mao and the six instantly started to spar with each other. Lily began to easily defend herself and soon started to fight back against her opponent, using blocks and dodges to defend and roundhouse kicks, swift punches, and flips to attack. Suddenly, Lily surrounded herself with yellow energy as she fights, she knows it's time to end this and her yellow Cheetah Spirit flies out of her body and knocks her opponent to the ground with a few slashes of its claws.

Meanwhile, Theo is also doing very well against his opponent, including using her attempt to grab him against her, resulting in Theo flipping her over. He then decides to dispatch her with an elbow to her shoulder/chest region before he too is surrounded by swirling energy, only this time it's blue and his Jaguar Spirit sends his opponent rolling away in defeat.

However, Jarrod and Aria refuse to be beaten so easily. The pair battle hard, both delivering powerful punches and kicks. However the other one also seems to block them before they reach their target. Eventually they realised that physical fight wasn't going to get them anywhere and so Aria pulled out the object she had been fiddling with earlier. Jarrod smiled and as she squeezed the little object, Jarrod powered up his Lion Spirit. Aria then released the object, causing the springs to burst free. Two feet flipped out and a long tail dropped down from the back. Two sections slid apart, the decoration on them making them look like claws. A top flap finally rose revealing a lion's head snarling, bearing all of its razor sharp teeth. It began to glow white and the power rushed over Aria, covering her like a cloak. She snapped to creature back into its ball shape and threw it at Jarrod. In mid-air the object became a spirit and soon Jarrod had to release his Lion Spirit. The two cats clashed in mid-air and their masters soon followed suit, continuing their battle to see who was the stronger of the two.

By now, the other two spars had finished and winners of their battles proceed to watch the remaining battle.

'Why are they taking so long?' snapped Theo, he was tired and wanted to see what was in store for the winners. 'Jarrod's older than her, he should be able to crush her.' Lily rolled her eyes; she'd known Aria from their first day at the Academy. She along with Dominic – who left many months ago – had watched the pair improve. Jarrod often overtook his sister, gaining his Me and Dai San Daiya's before Aria. But she often fought to keep up and now both were at the same level. Even Master Mao did not know who would win.

'Chill T, it's obvious they're at a similar level.'

'The girl's not even turned 17! Plus she's only just got her Dai San Daiya!' In the battle Aria flinched and glanced down at her diamonds. This gave Jarrod an opening and she was soon sent backwards. However, Aria could be just as stubborn as her brother and wasn't about to give Theo the last laugh. In moments she was back fighting and Jarrod made a mental note to get Theo for disturbing their fight. However Jarrod could see that Theo's words had hit her hard, her Lion Spirit wasn't fighting with the same zeal as it had before and Aria was blocking most of Jarrod's attacks and making few of her own. That was another issue to confront Theo with. Jarrod was tempted to stop and wait for her to make a move, but Lily made it first.

'Go on Aria, show him who's the top cat.' Aria glanced at Lily, surprised by the outburst. And also comforted and returned to fighting, this time with a little more passion. Jarrod paused to look at Lily and nodded slightly. However Lily was confused and wished that Dom was here to tell her what that meant. The pair were loners, with only each other for company. But then Lily and Dom came to the Order not that long after they had joined. Dom became good friends with Jarrod after becoming roommates and Lily had done the same with his sister. She was probably the only person – save her brother – who showed any real kindness and friendship to Aria. As a result, the pair were often seen training or sparring together.

Although her lack of confidence had been resolved for the time being, exhaustion was beginning to rear its ugly head. Jarrod was suffering from it too, but he was older and had obtained his Dai San Diaya over a year ago. Aria had only had hers for two days. It didn't take long for Aria to be unexpectedly catapulted backwards by the unsuspecting force of Jarrod's Lion Spirit. The attack threw her to the floor – signalling she had been defeated – and Aria could see her animal spirit had returned to its ball. She reached over to pick it up, cradling it in her hands.

'You still there?' she asked it and was pleased when the ball opened momentarily to reveal the Lion Spirit's snarling face. 'Good, good.' She started to stand and watched Theo and Lily congratulating each other, clasping hands and exclaiming 'Yesss!' triumphantly. Jarrod too was happy, a smug expression stretching across his face as he approached a younger student.

'Where's my towel? Cub! Go get me a towel! Move it!' Jarrod snapped, his hand held out expectantly. Aria looked at her brother and sighed. Bloody typical Jarrod, she thought and slowly moved over to intercept him, hopefully before anything could happen, picking up a towel as she edged closer to him. She was not the only one to stop and stare, Theo and Lily had done so too. Even Master Mao had stopped to watch the scene as he began to walk away and another cub with dirty-blonde hair stopped what he was doing.

'That's a direct order from a senior student!' growled Jarrod, who then proceeded to flip over the basket of towels, causing the young cub to flinch.

'Well done Jarrod, now he can give you a dirty towel.' Aria interjected and Jarrod snapped his head round to look at her, anger still the dominate emotion is his face. 'Just cool off bro.' Jarrod relaxed slightly and Aria beamed at him, she can usually calm him down. However her efforts were about to be squashed by Casey, the dirty-blonde haired lad, who had by then ran over to Jarrod, a white towel crumpled in his hand.

'Here's a towel!' Jarrod turned away from his sister and to the cub. He snatched the towel out of Casey's hands and glared at him. Aria watched as Casey looked away for a moment before meeting Jarrod. _Oh god, if I don't help that cub, Jarrod's gonna kick his arse!_ Aria ran over to Jarrod, shaking his shoulders in an attempt to get his attention.

'Jarrod.' He ignored her. 'Jarrod!' she snapped, still not getting a response. 'Jarrod just leave it for Christ's sake.' The cub looked at the pair sheepishly.

'Look… I don't want any problems.' He told them. Aria hoped that Jarrod would accept this masked form of apology. Jarrod snickered at Casey.

'Jarrod?' Aria asked fearfully.

'Too bad.' Jarrod snapped and gave Casey a hard shove, forcing him to fall onto the ground. Aria watched, but didn't make a move to stop Casey landing on his backside. However she did give Jarrod a punch in the back, which he promptly ignored. She turned to look at Casey, who was looking a little scared. Not really much of a surprise when facing the wrath of Jarrod. But then he did something that made her smile, he glared at Jarrod. Jarrod just sneered down at him.

'Oh! Is little cub gonna do something?' Aria tapped him on the shoulder. Jarrod didn't move, but flicked his eyes towards her.

'I wouldn't underestimate him bro.' she told him, but it was too late. Casey gritted his teeth. He wasn't having this, this bully needed to be taught a lesson. Then he suddenly began to roar. Aria watched in amazement as the image of a tiger's face appeared over his face along with some sort of strange energy that began to emanate from him. The force of it sent Jarrod and Aria flying backwards, leaving a shocked Casey to look helplessly at his hands.

'What did I just do?' he whispered as Master Mao's eyes darted back and forth. A decision was being made. A decision that would be crucial to the future. He continued to watch as Jarrod's sister helped Jarrod to pick himself up. She looked at Casey, astounded not only at his dormant power, but at the fact he blasted her down too, and she wasn't the one who was bloody furious at him.

'I'm sorry! I don't know what happened!' apologised Casey, but Jarrod went to return the favour, with Aria behind him ready to hold him back. Luckily, a clap from Master Mao stopped them. Jarrod and Aria turned to Master Mao and bowed to him before promptly leaving the scene, returning to their dormitories.

xXx

'Damn that cub.' Jarrod snapped as he paced up and down his room. Aria watched him from his bed, knowing better than to argue with him when he is in this kind of mood. 'And damn Master Mao. He should of let me teach that cub a lesson.' Aria just shrugged.

'You won the final Jarrod, be happy with that.' Aria reminded him, although in some ways that made it worst.

'And I never got a chance to talk to that jaguar.' Aria rolled her eyes. She highly doubted that the 'talk' he wanted to give Theo involved Theo talking. In fact she wondered if it involved more grunts than words, expect for maybe Jarrod's threat to Theo. Then again she couldn't talk. She done the same to Theo once when he'd ruined the surprise birthday party she was going to throw for Jarrod. They'd been on rough terms ever since.

'Oh leave Theo Jarrod, he's not worth it.' Aria replied, speaking from experience. Jarrod whirled around to face her.

'He hurt you.' He stated. Aria bit her lip; this was going to be difficult.

'Not physically…' she started, but Jarrod cut her off.

'He hurt your confidence.'

'I wasn't that confident to start off with, Theo didn't really do anything.' Jarrod snorted, obviously not believing her. He probably would have argued further if a knock on the door hadn't startled him.

'Who is it?' he snapped, still sore about the earlier events.

'It's me Jarrod.' Replied Master Mao and Jarrod quickly went to open the door while Aria stood up. As the Master entered the room, the paired bowed to him. He nodded at the pair and they rose. He looked at Aria, who proceeded to look guiltily away. Girls weren't allowed in boy's dormitories for obvious reasons, not that Aria ever listened. 'Jarrod, I would like to talk to you. Outside.' Jarrod bowed to the Master's wishes and went to follow him outside. That was until Aria gave a sharp whistle, stopping him in his tracks. Jarrod paused and turned around, just in time to see a small ball thrown in his direction. He caught it and nodded to Aria, understanding completely.

The problem Aria had was that Master Mao obviously didn't want Aria to know what he was telling Jarrod. Normally he wouldn't care or he knew that Jarrod would tell her later anyway and thought it would be better for her to hear it from the cat's mouth so to speak. So the fact he was excluding her didn't go unnoticed. That's why she'd given Jarrod her Spirit Ball. To put it plainly she wanted to spy on the conversation, as was using her Lion Spirit to help her out. She had no idea where Master Mao took Jarrod and to be honest, she didn't care. She just needed to hear what he had to say. She meditated and began to hear their conversation.

'Jarrod, do you know why I have called you?' Master Mao asked.

'No Master.' Jarrod replied.

'It's about this morning, you're actions.' Master Mao paused, probably giving Jarrod a hard stare. 'They were unbecoming of a Pai Zhua student. You should not have addressed the Hatsu Daiya in such a way.' Aria found herself smiling; only Master Mao would refer to the cubs by their official title. 'Normally, I would be saying that this was a one-time slip, however, this is not the case.' Aria's heart sank and realised that Master Mao was going to give her brother a lecture. Not that is hasn't happened before, but this time it was different. This time seemed worse.

'But Master-' Jarrod tried to defend himself, but even Aria could hear that this was going to be a one-sided conversation.

'Do not interrupt Jarrod.' Jarrod fell silent. 'I have on many occasions had to remind you not to bully others. However you have constantly disobeyed me and now it seems you've become arrogant too.' Aria and Jarrod were stunned by this news. Aria couldn't argue with the first of Jarrod's faults, but arrogant? He wasn't arrogant, how dare Master Mao say he was arrogant. Aria knew the reason why he acted like that, but it wasn't arrogance. Master Mao had got it completely wrong.

'I was going to choose you as a protector since you defeated your sister in battle, but now I see you do not have the heart of the Lion. Therefore I have no choice, but to dismiss you from the Order.' If this was an anime, Aria's jaw would have fallen right to the floor. Master Mao was kicking Jarrod out? Aria was gobsmacked and she knew when Jarrod got back he wasn't going to be happy. 'You will return to your dormitory and pack. I expect you to be gone by tomorrow morning.' By this point Jarrod had found his voice.

'What about my sister? I'm the only family she has. You can't expect me to leave her! She needs me!' shouted Jarrod, his anger overflowing. Aria had to agree. She loved Jarrod. She needed Jarrod. She had no real family, no friends who she could talk to. Not even Lily was anywhere near as close to Aria as she was to Jarrod. The thought of them separated was too much to bear. But Master Mao had a retort for that.

'You are a bad influence on her.' He told Jarrod. 'She needs someone with a good heart to look up, someone she can aspire to match and surpass. She has good potential and a good heart, but you are starting to…corrupt her, for lack of a better word.' Jarrod's eyes widened not just at the fact his Master was saying he was a bad influence but at how Aria would react as she heard the Master's words. He still had no idea about the Lion Spirit Ball wedged firming in Jarrod's pocket.

'What about family? You said yourself that we all need our family. Will I get to visit her, during birthdays and Christmases?' An awkward silence lasted for about half a second.

'No.' Master Mao told him, filling Aria with rage. She started to growl; her Lion Spirit furious at this denial of pride.

'Then how will she get to see her family if I can't see her?' Jarrod couldn't contain his anger and Master Mao refused to lower himself to Jarrod's level.

'I will become her family.' He stated calmly, instantly shutting her brother up and simultaneously completely destroying all respect Aria had for Master Mao. Aria roared angrily in Jarrod's room, causing the bookshelves to shake. How dare that bloody Master claim he was going to become her fucking family. She was so wrapped up in her rage that she didn't notice Casey open the door.

'Whoa!' he exclaimed seeing a seething Aria, her animal spirit power rising off her in waves. 'Um sorry to interrupt you, but…' Casey couldn't go any further. A pissed off Aria got there first.

'Do you want your tiger tail kicked all the way to fricking Master Mao?' asked Aria, her voice gravelly and furious and drastically different to what Casey heard earlier today.

'Errr, no.' Casey replied, hoping he had said the right answer.

'Then get the hell outta here before I lose my temper and kick you outta here.' Aria turned to glare at Casey, her eyes now a strange mix of blue and her Lion Spirit's deep green.

'Okay. No need to tell me twice!' exclaimed Casey nervously before high-tailing it out of there. A few minutes later, another angry student – no wait ex-student – entered the room. He glanced at the mess Aria's anger had caused and raised an eyebrow.

'I kinda got pissed when Master Mao had the audacity to claim he could become my family. Sorry 'bout the room.' Not that you'll be using it anymore. Aria added to herself silently. Jarrod nodded and said

'You saved me a job.' Aria smiled and he chucked something at her. It was her Lion Spirit Ball.

'Thanks.' She said, stroking it softly to calm her Lion Spirit. Although her anger had passed, the Lion's hadn't

'You're welcome.' Jarrod paused and stared at Aria. 'Aria?'

'Yes?'

'Do you know where the Forbidden Room is?' Aria smirked.

'Course. You're talking to her girl who reads Forbidden Scrolls in her spare time.' Jarrod shook his head. That was the one thing he couldn't understand about Aria, her insistence on reading scrolls that probably weren't going to help her anytime soon. How wrong he was. 'I'll show you.' Aria pulled out a map of the temple and showed her brother the area where the entrance of the Forbidden Room was. Jarrod smiled evilly and for once Aria couldn't blame him.

'If you're gonna go, go out with a bang.' She told he, and he smiled.

'I'll be back before you know it.' he told her, ruffling her hair before charging out of his room and towards the Forbidden Room. Aria watched him go, then pulled out his rucksack and started to pack for him. After whatever was going to happen in there, she guessed Jarrod would need to make a swift getaway. She was right.

Minutes later, a shiver ran down Aria's spine. She blinked in shock then shook herself down. Someone's walked over my grave. she mused looking out the window to see if Jarrod was coming back. He was, but something wasn't right. He was stumbling over his feet in an effort to run away from some unseen force. When he burst into the room, Aria's questions were instantly forgotten. God, her brother looked terrified. His face was as white as a polar bear spirit and some of his hair was coated with sweat.

'Jarrod…' Aria breathed, not sure what to do.

'I got to go. Now.' He told her in a voice that sounded just as scared as he looked. Aria nodded and reached for his rucksack.

'I packed for you in case this happened.' Jarrod snatched the bag and quickly checked the contents. They were all fine; Jarrod smiled at Aria and hugged her tightly. This may be the last time he would see her in a long while. 'Good Luck Jarrod.' Aria told his shoulder, shedding a tear as she did so.

'Good Luck Aria.' He replied, kissing her on the forehead, before sprinting out of the door. That was when Aria broke down into tears. She sobbed into her hands, her tears seeping into the carpeted floor. The only thing that stopped her crying was the sound of a soft growl. Aria turned to look at her Spirit Ball. It looked at her, rumbling softly.

'You're right.' She told it, picking up and closing it gently. If Jarrod was leaving, he was going to take a piece of her with him. She got up and went to open the door, only to found Jarrod standing there.

'I need to give you something.' He told her.

'So do I, but since you were here first I guess you're going first.' Jarrod nodded and pulled something out from a pocket.

'I want you to have this.' Aria went to open the wrapping. 'But you can open it yet. It's for your birthday.' Aria nodded and placed the object carefully to the side.

'I want you to have this, so I can always be with you.' And from a closed fist, Aria revealed her gift to be her Lion Spirit Ball. Jarrod was shocked.

'Aria-' he started, but she shut him up.

'This isn't an offer.' She told him, forcing it into his hands. 'Take care of it. Or you'll pay when I see you again.' She added with a cheeky grin. He nodded and placed the ball in his pocket, before turning his back on the Pai Zhua. Aria watched him go, but didn't see the ghostly cloud that was called Dai Shi follow him. She was more concerned with the fact she now wouldn't see him again until many months later.

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><p>Hoped you liked it, I'll upload more chapters as time goes on. Don't forget to review, I'd love to hear any thoughts on this!<p> 


	2. Chapter 1: First Impressions

Hello again and welcome to the second chapter of my story. There's a bit of a jump between my first chapter and this one, but I thought I needed to set the scene before I started the story properly. Hope you enjoy it!

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><p><em>The battle between me and Jarrod,<em>

_Casey standing up to him,_

_Jarrod's dismissal,_

_The anger Mao made me feel,_

_The Forbidden Room,_

_Jarrod's fear,_

_The gift,_

_Him running into the distance,_

_Now I'm standing here, Master Mao is under my feet. He's bleeding, oh god, he's bleeding badly. But I'm not helping him. There's someone watching me, a man covered in a furry shroud. He's talking to me, but I can't hear me. I look at my old Master, his glaring at me. I can see the tattoo on my arm and the blood on my hands. Oh god…its Master Mao's blood, I killed Master Mao! Now the man's by my side, his arm around my shoulder, congratulating me…thanking me. I can hear him now. He's telling me about my power, how I'll be rewarded later when the world's at our paws. He's telling me how I'm now his. He owns my body, my heart, my spirit. And as he takes my hand, I'm powerless to fight back. We're walking home, him leading me away. I'm being taken, corrupted, possessed… and I can't fight it. A group of people stop us walking. He pushes me forward. He tells me to fight and I do. He tells me to win and I win. He tells me to destroy and I stand over the oldest man. I can't see clearly who it is, all I can see is his animal spirit's purple energy and the long brown hair he has. But that doesn't matter. All I know is that I must obey. My hands glow with a dark power, they race down to meet the man's chest. He screams and I _awake.

Aria blinked and woke up with a start. She glanced around for a moment to get her bearings and when she was satisfied she knew where she was, she glanced down at her hands. Clean, no blood on them and the tattoo on her arm had safely faded away. She began to gather her belongings together and head for the lake near the area she had decided to sleep at. It didn't take long. After her dismissal from the Pau Zhua, not too long after her brother's, she had travelled around many towns, only staying in one place if she needed money. Because of this, she had very few belongings.

When she reached the lake, she knelt down by the water's edge and splashed the cold water on her face, shooing the last for her nightmare deep into her brain. Aria paused to watch the water calm after she had disturbed it by her wake-up call. As it settled down Aria saw a reflection beside her, but she didn't move. The reflection she saw was her Lion Spirit. Ever since she gave Jarrod her Spirit Ball, her Lion Spirit had to use reflections in order to talk face-to-face with its mistress.

'That's very Lion King-y, ya know.' She told him, but the spirit did not get the joke. No surprises there then. 'What is it?' The Lion rumbled at her and Aria understood him. 'Yes, they are getting worse.' She told him, breathing out a long sigh. 'What shall I do, Lion? How can I make them go away?' The Lion indicated her pocket and Aria drew out her purse. She gave it rattle, then looked inside to see she was getting low on money. 'You think I should work?' The Lion nodded its approval and Aria smiled. 'Well that settles it. Next town we meet, we're gonna go find some work.' And Aria did exactly that.

Luckily for Aria, another town was only a short walk out of the woods. Aria watched as the harbour town she had arrived at bustled along nicely. She seemed to like this place, it wasn't too crowded or too busy, but at the same time it wasn't a ghost town. The locals were friendly enough, acknowledging her as they passed her with nodding heads and 'Good afternoon's. Aria smiled as she wandered through the town, keeping her eyes peeled for some work. Then she had to stop as a grumbling noise escaped from within her. She licked her lips and stopped by an information centre.

'Excuse me, but do you know where I can get something to eat around here?' she asked the man sitting in front of the computer.

'What do you like to eat?' asked the man.

'Ummm,' she thought for a moment. Her parents had never once taken her or Jarrod out for a meal, so Aria honestly had no idea what to say. But then she remembered on her 16th birthday, Jarrod had taken her out for pizza. She remembered liking the pizza and so decided to go for a pizza parlour. 'Pizza.' She told the man, who seemed to brighten up for a moment.

'Then you'll want 'Jungle Karma Pizza' dear. Here's a map to show you how to get there.' He reached under the desk and brought out a leaflet with a map on it. Thank god he didn't give her directions. Aria sucked at directions. Aria took the map and quickly found the route to JKP.

'Thank you.' She told the man, before turning around and disappearing out of the door. It only took her a few minutes to walk to JKP, but when she got here she felt she hadn't eaten in days. She walked up to the door and noticed a sign hanging up and on the other side of the glass.

'Employers wanted. Hiring now

Speak to RJ for details.'

'What do ya know? It wants workers too. Today seems to be my lucky day.' Aria muttered as she walked into the restaurant. That luck, however, was about to be destroyed. She looked at the counter to see a man with dirty blonde hair at the till. Aria's eyes widened as she saw him.

'Welcome to Jungle Karma Pizza. Table for 1?' he asked pleasantly. Aria gulped down the sick feeling that had risen in her throat and answered.

'Yes please.' The man smiled and led her to a table, which she sat herself down at. He then passed her a menu.

'Here's your menu. Would you like a drink?' he asked and Aria quickly flicked to the drinks section of the menu.

'I'll have a diet coke if you have one.' The man nodded and quickly noted down the order.

'My name's Casey.' He told her, making Aria flinch, both from her memory but also from her dream. She recalled seeing a dirty haired blonde fighting her and Aria had a feeling it was him. Casey watched her, unsure how to react to the girl's action. He continued with his protocol. 'And I'll be your waiter. If you need anything, give me a shout.' He then turned to focus on another customer.

'Not if you're gonna roar at me.' Aria muttered under her breathe as she desperately tried to search for a pizza that didn't have bananas on it. She decided to settle on a Crazy Carnivore and a side order of garlic bread, which Casey happily wrote down and brought to her.

'Is that everything?' he asked.

'No, I would like to speak to RJ about the advert in your window. If the offer's still open.' Casey smiled and nodded.

'Sure, it's still open. I'll go find him.' Aria watched him go before diving into a rather delicious pizza.

'Note to self: When I see Jarrod again, make sure to bring him here.' She told herself after finishing her third slice of pizza.

'Bring who here?' asked a man beside her, making her jump. Her arms instantly went into the lion stance until the man quickly added 'Sorry I didn't mean to startle you.' Aria relaxed and replied with

'No, no, don't worry.' She raised her head to meet the man's eyes. 'You must be RJ, I'm Aria. She held out a hand, which RJ gladly took.

'How do you know I'm RJ? I may be another customer.' Aria smirked.

'It says so on your name badge.' RJ glanced at the aforementioned badge and his face fell.

'Oh, never mind. Mind if I sit down?' Aria gestured to the chair in front of her. RJ took the chair and watched Aria intently. 'Do you have any siblings Aria?' he asked, quite suddenly.

'Yeah, a brother. Why?'

'You just…remind me of someone.' RJ shook his head, dispelling the thought that entered his mind. 'Anyway, why do you want the job Aria?'

'I'm a bit of a traveller. I go wherever my spirit takes me and rarely stay there long. But to travel I need money, so when I'm low on dough I get whatever jobs I can find.' RJ nodded.

'May I ask, when say spirit do mean an animal spirit?' Aria blinked and nodded slowly.

'Yes I do. Is that weird or something?' Aria could feel her anger begin to rise up. If this man was going to make fun of her…

'No I meant no offence, I was just wondering.' Aria relaxed. Nothing wrong with a curious mind, Aria had one too, though hers was probably significantly worse than RJ's. RJ thought for a moment as Aria bit into her fifth slice of pizza. 'Do you know of the Pai Zhua, Aria?' Aria instantly stopped eating and gawped at RJ. 'I'll take that as a yes.'

'How do you know? Are you a student?' RJ smiled.

'Was.' Then he lifted up his long sleeved shirt to reveal a claw tattoo on his right forearm. Aria looked at him and rose, giving a little bow as she did so. 'Whoa, sit down. There's no need to be formal about it.' he told her. Aria nodded and sat back down.

'God, I never thought I'd have to do that again.' She thought out loud. RJ looked at her curiously.

'Why? Have you left the Pai Zhua?'

'Sort of.' RJ could tell that this was a sore subject and so made a mental note to avoid it in the future.

'Listen, most of the employers are from the Pai Zhua. In fact we're the guardians from the ancient stories.' Another flinch from Aria meant that was another subject to avoid unless it was unavoidable. 'I make you a deal. If you want the job I'll give you it. I'll even give you somewhere to stay if you need it.'

'Yeah I do. Here's probably better than the forest.' RJ nodded, then rose a finger to Aria's face.

'But I'll only do this on one condition.' Arai gulped.

'What's that?'

'You'll have to train with us. You may not be able to fight with us, but I would still like to train you.' Aria looked shocked and then shook her head.

'I can't accept that offer.' She told him. RJ tried another tactic.

'Do you want to train with a Master?' he asked her. Aria looked down at the floor.

'Yes.' She told him quietly.

'Then why are you denying yourself this chance?' Aria glared at RJ, but then reminded herself that he didn't know. She reached for her T-shirt and pulled back the fabric by her right shoulder. RJ watched as three long scars were slowly brought into view. RJ tried to stay flippant about the situation.

'Gnarly.' he told her, his eyes fixated on the marks. 'How'd you get them?'

'Reading Forbidden Scrolls.' RJ thought for a moment.

'Which ones?'

'All of them.' RJ raised an eyebrow.

'All? You must be pretty knowledgeable about the Dai Shi.' Aria nodded.

'Yep. Give me a monster and there's a 9/10 chance I've at least heard of it.'

'Alright. Naja, tell me about Naja.' Aria thought for a moment.

'Holder of the Cobra Spirit, welds a sickle in battle and the leader of the Five Fingers of Poison.' RJ smiled at her, obviously impressed.

'Very good. Pangolin.'

'Holder of the Pangolin Spirit. Has some the toughest armour of any monster, most weapons just bounce off it. The only known weapon to break through the armour in the Jungle Mace.'

'Excellent, and finally…' RJ paused to think of a tougher monster. 'Grizzaka.' Aria sighed. RJ had to pick that one, didn't he.

'Known as the Land Overlord and holder of the Grizzly Bear Spirit. He is also one of the few known monsters to have leant Zocato.'

'Wow, that's a lot of info. Listen, if you want I can help you.' Aria looked at him.

'You mean…' RJ nodded and Aria thought for a moment.

'What if the other Masters come asking questions?' RJ shrugged.

'Then I'll take the blame. Look this is a one in a lifetime chance. Think about it.' RJ then left, leaving Aria alone with her thoughts. She glanced at her bag, then her shoulder and finally her arm when the tattoo was still invisible. She summoned it forward briefly, still deep in thought. _He must have known about you,_ Aria thought to the tattoo _I saw him glance down at you. He must have known and yet he's offering me a home. _Aria looked over to RJ, but her train of thought was broken by Casey.

'Your check.' He told her, placing it in front of her. She caught RJ's eye, who just looked at her. _You need to choose. Now._ He told her mentally. Aria smiled back and opened her purse, placing five bucks on the check.

'Keep the change Casey. She told him before walking towards the door. RJ sighed, _she didn't accept my offer…_ he thought and turned his back on Aria.

'Hey boss.' RJ whirled around, expecting to see Lily or Fran. But he didn't. He saw Aria holding the sign RJ had hung in the window earlier on that week. 'I don't think you'll be needed this anymore.' RJ smiled and took the sign off her.

'No, I guess not. Follow me.' RJ led Aria into the kitchen, where two more employees were working. 'Aria this is Dom and Fran, Dom and Fran this is Aria.' Arai frowned at the name Dom and Dom frowned at the name Aria.

'Aria?' he asked as he shook her hand.

'Yes, Dom.' She paused for a moment, trying to work out where she knew the name from. Dom got there first.

'Aria Rio!' he suddenly shouted, giving her hug at the same time. 'It's nice to meet you at last.'

'Same here. My brother spoke of you often. And hello to you Fran.' Aria offered a hand to Fran, who took it. RJ than went to take Aria upstairs.

'Whoa, whoa, whoa RJ, what are you doing?' she asked.

'Yeah since when did we allow just anyone in to the loft?' Aria looked at Casey bemused. He really didn't remember her.

'Relax Casey. I'm Pai Zhua.' Casey nodded understandably and followed her and RJ upstairs. As they got up there RJ called out

'Lil, T get over here. I got someone to introduce you to.' Aria blinked at the name Lil. Wasn't that that Lily's nickname? And then sure enough the very Cheetah bounded forwards at her Master's call.

'What's up?' she asked, all cheery and peppy.

'Not much.' Aria said and Lily looked shocked. 'Hey Lil. No time no see.' Lily gulped.

'Hey Aria.' She said in a quiet voice. RJ however looked pleased.

'You two know each other?'

'Yes. We were roommates and friends at Pai Zhua.' Lily answered

'Is this true?' RJ asked Aria, who nodded. 'Sweet.' Aria glared at his back. To her that defiantly wasn't sweet. Lily caught her eye and made a face at her, but Aria just cut her dead.

'Hey Lil! Where are ya?' called a voice that Aria really did not want to hear.

'Out here Theo.' Theo came out and glanced at RJ and Aria.

'Hey RJ.' He was about to continue talking to Lily, when he took a double take.

'Hello Theo.' Aria told him.

'Oh great, look what crawled out from under a rock.' Aria glared at him and snorted.

'Look who's talking.' She snapped back, confusing the hell outta RJ.

'All right guys. Cool it. There's no need to fight.'

'Yeah 'cause your big brother isn't here to cause one.' Aria lost her cool at that point. In seconds she had jumped down from the balcony and had a hand at Theo's throat.

'If you know what's best for you, I'd shut up about him.' Aria snarled, white energy beginning to rise off of her. At was at that same point that Casey remembered Aria.

'It's you!' he exclaimed, allowing Theo to wiggle out of Aria's grip. 'You're the girl I saw in Jarrod's room.' Aria nodded.

'Yeah. Sorry about what happened then. I was majorly pissed off and it was just bad luck you came in when you did.' Theo looked at Aria.

'Why were you in Jarrod's room?'

''Cause I wanted to talk to him about what happened. Plus do I need a reason?' Arai growled

'You were probably plotting to bully Casey again. Oh wait, you couldn't Master Mao kicked your brother out before you had a chance!' Aria snarled and lashed out at Theo, hitting him in the chest.

'If you had used your eyes that day Theo, you'd seen that I has trying to stop Jarrod from hurting Casey.'

'Not very well.' Retorted Theo and that resulted in another blow to the chest.

'Have you ever dealt with a pissed off and big-headed Jarrod?'

'No.'

'Well I have and I tell you it's bloody difficult.' Aria turned to leave, Theo just wouldn't shut up.

'You could of tried harder.' Aria roared at Theo and stuck him for the third time, causing him to fall on the floor. Lily ran to Aria and tried to pull her back.

'Aria! Stop this.' Lily begged, glancing at Theo, who still wasn't helping matters.

'Now where have we seen this before?' he sneered. Well to Aria it seemed to be a sneer. She lunged at him, intent on showing him the power of the Lion when she found herself kicked back by RJ. Casey ran to Theo and helped him up while Dom helped Aria up. She looked up to see RJ covered in his purple spirit energy. Aria widened her eyes. _A purple spirit and long brown hair, was it RJ I saw in the dream?_ Aria watched him as he stood in between the pair.

'Theo, Aria stop this.' He told them.

'But RJ-' argued Theo but a sharp looked from RJ shut him up.

'Now it seems we're all a little tired and cranky. Fran, time to go home.' Fran nodded and swiftly left.

'Dom, Casey, Lily go get ready for bed.' The three students nodded and rushed off.

'As for you two, I need you to sort it out.' Aria gave a snort which earned her a glare from RJ. 'Aria I don't care if your brother is Jarrod, but I need you to control your anger. My team gets beaten up enough as it is from Dai Shi and we don't need you adding to it.' Aria looked down guiltily and nodded. 'And Theo, you've gotta get over the past she's had with you. I don't care if it was rocky, I want the future to be smooth. Got it?'

'Yes RJ.' Theo replied and RJ smiled, that seemed to put the pair in their place.

'Good. Now go get some rest. Busy day tomorrow.' He turned and left.

'Good night Theo.' Aria told him before turning around to follow RJ. He had failed to tell her where she was sleeping tonight. But when he back was turned, Theo blasted her with his Jaguar Spirit. Outraged, Aria naturally retaliated by releasing her Lion Spirit. The two cats clashed for about two seconds before a purple wolf broke them up, dispelling the Jaguar Spirit and swiping at the Lion Spirit.

'THEO, ARIA, BED!' he shouted at them and both of them scuttled away, truly terrified of the power in RJ's voice.

xXx

The rangers were not the only people who noticed that Jarrod's sister had arrived. The Spirit Ball that Aria had given to Jarrod had begun to glow in response to sensing its true mistress's arrival. However, although Aria had no knowledge of this yet, due to Dai Shi possessing her beloved brother, the Spirit Ball was kept near Dai Shi at all times. He could sense the power within it and was waiting for a time to utilise it. This reaction was just the thing Dai Shi was waiting for.

'Generals!' he barked and his three Phantom Beast Generals rushed to his call.

'You called us, great Dai Shi.' Scorch noted as he bowed respectively in front of his King. Dai Shi held up the glowing ball.

'This thing is glowing. What does that mean?' Snapper lifted a hand.

'Let me see it, great Dai Shi.' He offered and Dai Shi got up and gave it to him. Snapper observed it glow and carefully stroked the item. It flashed briefly for a moment and Snapper let go of it out of shock. Luckily Dai Shi's reactions were fast and he caught the object just in time.

'Be careful!' he snapped at Snapper, who bowed apologetically.

'I am sorry Dai Shi. Would you forgive me if told what it was?'

'Yes.' Dai Shi replied. Dai Shi watched the ball intently, causing it to shine even brighter.

'It's a Spirit Ball.' Snapper informed Dai Shi and Camille frowned.

'What's a Spirit Ball?' asked Camille.

'A rare object that allows animal spirits to communicate with its master. When used in conjunction with the animal spirit, it increases its power significantly.' Dai Shi glanced at the small object, surprised that something so small could be so powerful. Then an evil plan began to form in his mind. 'However,' continued Snapper 'Spirit Balls cannot be corrupted. They will remain loyal to their owner until the end.' Dai Shi growled his displeasure and sat back on his throne.

'Then what good is this to me?' he demanded to his Generals. They looked at each other and Camille decided to step forward.

'We may not be able to corrupt the animal spirit, but we can corrupt its user. If you give me the Spirit Ball, I'll go out into the city and find its owner then report straight back to you.' Dai Shi glanced at the Spirit Ball glowing brightly in his hands before handing it to Camille. The Spirit Ball continued to glow, but not quite as strongly as when it was in Dai Shi's hands. Scorch then decided to speak up.

'Dai Shi, give us the Spirit Ball, we will be able to capture the user for you.' Dai Shi glared at them.

'I didn't say I wanted the user captured. I want to observe him first, then I'll decide when and how to capture him. Understand?'

'Yes, mighty Dai Shi.' The two Phantoms bowed to Dai Shi's wishes while Dai Shi sat back in his throne to mediate. Something about the object had allowed the human within him to stir and awaken. Not that Dai Shi couldn't stop him from stirring, but he wanted to see if the object had any link to his host that Dai Shi could easily exploit.

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><p>Thank you for the reviews and more are always welcome! See you in the next chapter!<p> 


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